The rivalry reaches its apex when the teams meet in the sixth edition of the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on Wednesday, Jan. 1 at the University of Michigan football stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., where the stage will be set for more than 100,000 fans to attend the outdoor event.

Coaches Mike Babcock of the Red Wings and Randy Carlyle of the Maple Leafs, along with a host of key players, are in the spotlight as the two clubs battle through busy December schedules.

For the first time, all four episodes of the HBO Sports HD presentation debut in prime time, on consecutive Saturday nights. Episodes two and three debut on subsequent Saturdays, Dec. 21 and 28, at the same time. The series finale debuts Saturday, Jan. 4, three days after the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, with cameras tracking all the drama of game day.

With 17 Sports Emmys, "24/7" is the most-honored sports series of the past six years. At the 2012 Sports Emmy Awards, the series received the Dick Schaap Writing Award for "24/7 Flyers/Rangers," the third Sports Emmy for the "24/7" NHL franchise. Launched in 2007, the earliest editions of "24/7" were devoted to boxing.